In an effort to ensure protections of Nigerian coasts, the Nigerian Navy and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) are collaborating towards curtailing criminal activities on the waterways.

Speaking while receiving a delegation from NIMASA in his office, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas said that the Navy has provided its officers and ratings to man vessels used for the NIMASA’s operations in line with a subsisting Memorandum of Understanding between the agency and the Navy.

The CNS indicated interest in the navy keying into the surveillance system recently acquired by NIMASA which could help in the identification of ships that flout the International Ships and Ports facility Security (ISPS) Code and detection of ships that switch off their Automatic Identification System (AIS).

The CNS appreciated the efforts of NIMASA in the past eight years since the first Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the two parties, most especially in areas of capacity building in training of officers and the Agency’s contributions to the aviation arm of the Navy with the Augusta 139 aircraft used in surveillance.

While reiterating the need to review the MoU in light of events that have unfolded in recent years, the CNS emphasized the need to have ship wrecks cleared from the waterways in order to reduce navigational hazards and also free berthing spaces.

In his remarks at the occasion, the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Mr. Baba Haruna Jauro disclosed that his agency has acquired satellite surveillance system that would aid in real-time monitoring activities on Nigerian waterways.

Jauro said the acquired Satellite Surveillance System could monitor beyond the nation’s coast and even cover the Gulf of Guinea.

He said that the achievements of NIMASA in the area of reducing maritime crimes would not have been possible without the efforts of the Navy. (PRNigeria)